Agent: Intercepting Yu Manli at the start!

Chapter 41 paved the way for the most crucial section of the road!

Lan Yanzhi finally saw it clearly—Feng Manna had already staked her life on a knife's edge, determined to avenge this wrong; once she took that step, there was no turning back. She didn't try to persuade her further, but simply lowered her eyes, turned, and walked away.

Without her noticing, Zhou Xiao had already slipped the secret letter into her line of sight...

The Lan Family Mansion.

Lan Yanzhi knew she was partly to blame for Feng Manna's tragic end. Although she hadn't directly harmed Feng Zixiong and his wife, she had undeniably contributed to their demise. A deep sense of guilt pierced her heart like a fine thorn, impossible to remove or swallow.

If the Military Intelligence Bureau really wanted to take action against Feng Manna, she wouldn't be able to stop them, let alone persuade anyone to stop.

Suddenly, I felt empty, my eyes glazed over, my steps faltered, and even my breathing felt so light it was almost weightless.

The moment she stepped through the mansion's gate, her mother, Zhang Chenxi, immediately noticed something was wrong. She rushed forward, her voice tense: "Yanzhi? What happened to you?"

She was wearing a navy blue blazer today, which she casually took off as she entered the room and handed over. Zhang Chenxi took it without hesitation and then turned to give it to the nanny, Alan.

"It's nothing." Lan Yanzhi's voice was a little hoarse. She slumped into the sofa, her brows furrowed. Her mind was in turmoil, unable to make sense of anything, and the pressure was making it hard to breathe.

Alan took the clothes and asked softly, "Miss, does this suit need washing?"

Lan Yanzhi waved her hand: "No need, hang it up, I'll wear it later."

"Alright, Miss!" Alan deftly hung the clothes on the coat rack in the lobby.

Zhang Chenxi was still worried, so she squatted down half an inch and looked directly at her daughter: "Don't keep things bottled up, tell Mom, you hear me? If you keep it to yourself for too long, your heart will rust."

"I understand, Mom." Lan Yanzhi nodded, her voice as soft as a sigh.

She sat quietly on the sofa for a moment, her thoughts calming down. Suddenly, she sat up and walked quickly toward the coat rack—she had to find Song Mian quickly and stop him from taking action, at least to delay him and give Feng Manna a way out.

But as she reached for her coat, her eyes twitched as she noticed a plain white rectangular piece of paper stuck to the inside of her left sleeve.

The paper strip was flat and crisp, clearly not a piece of scrap that had been accidentally picked up.

Her fingertips trembled, and she quickly peeled it off, bringing it closer to examine it, then bringing it to her nose to sniff—a very faint lingering smell of iodine mixed with the scent of ink. Without hesitation, she turned and rushed into the room, unscrewed the iodine bottle, dipped a cotton swab in it, and gently wiped her face.

Several lines of black text suddenly appeared on the blank paper: Special Operations Headquarters has captured a Military Intelligence Bureau (MIB) radio operator, seized a radio and codebook, and is planning to set a trap to lure the enemy back; all MIB radios must immediately go silent and not respond to any wireless communications!

Lan Yanzhi froze, her fingertips turning icy cold.

Who slipped this note into her sleeve without her noticing?

Many people have come into contact with this garment: Zhang Chenxi, the mother; Alan, the nanny; and strangers who brushed shoulders with her on the crowded tram on their way home...

Only two people actually touched her sleeve—Zhou Xiao and Feng Manna.

But who exactly is it?

She couldn't figure it out.

You see, Lan Yanzhi is a rare find: she has exceptional hearing, sharp logic, and never misses a detail. But along the way, her heart was torn apart by Feng Manna's affair, her soul was floating in mid-air, how could she care less about who had gotten close to her or who had touched her sleeve?

She clutched the note tightly, turned and rushed out—she had to find Song Mian immediately and deliver the message to the Military Intelligence Bureau!

Special Operations Headquarters.

Feng Manna's net tightened swiftly and ruthlessly. Before the radio operator at the Military Intelligence Bureau's liaison station could react, he had already been pinned against the wall.

The operation was covert and swift; the radio operator didn't even get a chance to smash the radio or burn the codebook, and the entire set of equipment fell into Feng Manna's hands intact.

She smiled and jogged up to Zhou Xiao in her high heels, her tone light and cheerful: "Director Zhou, the radio and codebook have all been seized! The person... just bit into the poison sac in their teeth, couldn't be saved."

Zhou Xiao didn't even lift his eyelids: "It doesn't matter if people die, getting the stuff is the only important thing."

"That's right." Feng Manna's eyes gleamed. "This is the first time since our Special Operations Headquarters was established that we've cracked a tough nut."

She never admitted defeat, especially in front of Aoki Takeshige, where she always stood tall and straight.

Zhou Xiao paused, then lowered his voice slightly: "Manna, I have an idea..."

"Since we have their radio and codebook, why not take advantage of their confusion and impersonate the Shanghai station to send a message? As long as someone answers, we can track the signal and wipe out all of the Military Intelligence Bureau's hideouts in the city."

Feng Manna's eyes lit up, and after a moment's thought, she immediately nodded: "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

"Hurry up and do it." Zhou Xiao's voice was cold and stern. "Once they come to their senses, this trick will be useless."

"Yes!" She turned and left, her skirt tracing a clean arc.

As for this game, Zhou Xiao had already secretly lifted the lid through Lan Yanzhi's hand—the Military Intelligence Bureau would probably have to take a detour.

……

Shanghai, a bright and clear photo studio.

With its narrow storefront and faded signboard, the neighborhood thought it was just an ordinary photo shop. Developing photos, taking family portraits, capturing the smiles of newlyweds... Among the customers were ladies in cheongsams, gentlemen wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and even occasionally, military officers with medals would stroll in to pick up a stack of freshly developed negatives.

No one knew that this place was the Mingtai Action Group's spy network hidden in the shadows.

Upon graduating from military academy, Mingtai's first secret order was to sneak back to Shanghai and await assignments from his superior, codenamed "Hades."

He, Yu Manli, and Guo Qiyun had been lying low in the city for days, but the mission was still nowhere to be seen. As the days passed, Yu Manli, slumped over the counter, listlessly flipping through a stack of sample images, suddenly muttered, "This 'Pluto,' could it be asleep? If we don't place an order soon, we'll all get moldy."

Currently, the only person the entire group recognizes as their superior is Zhou Xiao, codenamed "Pluto".

But nobody knew what he looked like, where he lived, or even his voice.

Mingtai and the other two took almost the same train back to Shanghai, but after landing, they completely lost contact—no instructions, no communication, no movement. Like three bullets stored deep in a drawer, loaded but unable to be pulled.

Yu Manli was also assigned to this team, spending all her time in the photo studio, her very bones smelling of old film, feeling suffocated.

Immediately after graduating from military academy, Mingtai undertook a tough mission—an assassination—which he executed flawlessly and without a single mistake. Among his fellow trainees, he was second only to Zhou Xiao, and was often referred to by the instructors as "the best of the best."

Zheng Yaoxian's decision to place the Mingtai Action Team directly under Zhou Xiao's command is tantamount to handing the sharpest knife to the most reliable hand.

Since returning to Shanghai, Mingtai has never stepped into the Ming family's gate again.

His student identity has long been torn up and burned; now he carries a Kuomintang secret agent's certificate and bears a burden that cannot be brought to light.

"Mingtai, do you really know who 'Hades' is?" Yu Manli leaned against the door frame of the darkroom, her gaze sweeping straight over. "He's like a dragon, appearing only briefly and never showing his face."

"Hades? Hades in Greek mythology—both Hades and Hades refer to him." Mingtai leaned against the window, speaking quickly. "The ruler of the underworld, the lord of plagues. The city of Thebes was struck by a deadly disease overnight, and the whole city wailed until the sisters Meteoc and Menepe willingly sacrificed themselves, and that calamity finally came to an end."

"Furthermore, regarding his lineage—the eldest son of Cronus and Rhea, and the brother of Poseidon and Zeus. His wife, Persephone, was the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, the goddess of grain, and she was in charge of the cycle of the seasons and the fertility of the earth..."

Having studied abroad for many years, Mingtai could readily recall these anecdotes, recounting them quickly and in great detail.

"Stop, stop, stop!" Yu Manli raised her hand to stop them, her eyelids drooping. "We're not talking about the pantheon of gods. I have no interest in listening to the side stories of the Investiture of the Gods."

"What I meant was, the person codenamed 'Pluto' is definitely not someone to be trifled with." Mingtai smiled at her. "What's wrong, getting itchy with waiting for a mission?"

Yu Manli shrugged: "It's not that I'm itching to use it, it's that it's rusting. If I keep cleaning the lens and adjusting the developer every day, I'm afraid that one day when I actually pick up a camera, I won't even recognize myself."

Mingtai raised an eyebrow: "Guo Qiyun just went out to collect the report; there's probably something going on."

"It would be great if there was a real mission!" Yu Manli stretched out with a big yawn, her spine cracking. "If I keep holding back, I'll even recognize my hometown accent when I take photos."

Before he finished speaking, footsteps came from the stairwell—Guo Qiyun strode up the stairs in three quick steps, clutching a newly translated telegram in his hand.

"Any work to do?" Mingtai immediately went to greet him.

Guo Qiyun shook his head: "Silence order. It was sent by the Military Intelligence Bureau headquarters using a backup frequency, ordering all radio stations in Shanghai to shut down immediately and cease all communications."

"Huh?" Yu Manli's initial enthusiasm deflated like a punctured balloon. "Silence again? How many times has this happened now..."

"Manli, don't think of going on a mission as a lantern festival." Guo Qiyun wiped his face, his voice turning serious. "Every time I step out the door, I'm walking on the edge of life and death. I'd rather spend my days repairing equipment and developing film, just to catch my breath peacefully."

Yu Manli pouted: "I just feel that life is too bland, so bland that I can't even taste the flavor of plain water."

If Zhou Xiao were around, she would never look so dejected.

But now, even with Mingtai and Guo Qiyun by their side, they can't even chat properly; the awkward silence is darker than a darkroom.

Since Zhou Xiao graduated from military academy, she hasn't heard a single word from him. To this day, she has no idea which street, which building, or which code name he's breathing behind.

Only in the dead of night, those two short weeks at military academy would quietly resurface—he would stand by the training field and hand her a bottle of water, his eyes shining like a freshly cleaned gun barrel beneath his hat brim.

It was thanks to the intelligence he risked his life to deliver that Lan Yanzhi was able to issue the order in time: all news transmitted by radio stations should not be believed; all radio stations should immediately go silent.

The Military Intelligence Bureau thus escaped a catastrophic disaster, minimizing its losses.

Special Higher Police Section, Section Chief's Office.

Feng Manna stood at attention and reported: "Section Chief Aoki, a few days ago we took down a Kuomintang radio operator and seized a radio and a codebook. We originally planned to follow the trail to uncover the other contact points and backup radio locations."

Zhou Xiao took over the conversation, his tone sincere: "Section Chief, I am also partly to blame for this. I didn't expect the Military Intelligence Bureau to react so quickly, clearing out all the nodes overnight."

Aoki Takeshige glanced at the two men, then suddenly burst into laughter: "Hahaha, no need to blame yourselves! You two have made a great contribution to this operation!"

"Although we were unable to expand our gains, we destroyed a key communication station and seized critical equipment and codebooks—this paved the most crucial path for deciphering the backlog of telegrams."

"More importantly, it dealt a heavy blow to the Military Intelligence Bureau's morale. They have recently disappeared and their activities have almost ceased, which in itself is a victory."

"The Empire will not forget, and the Special Higher Police will not forget either."